CCTV footage of two Libyan men accused of rape allegedly scouring the streets searching for a victim has been released during their trial.

Moktar Ali Saad Mahmoud, 33, and Ibrahim Abugtila, 23, deny raping and aiding and abetting the rape of the man in his 20s on Christ's Pieces in Cambridge on October 26.

The pair were arrested while undergoing training at Bassingbourn Barracks in Cambridgeshire as part of an agreement by the British Government to help war-torn Libya after the 2011 collapse of Muammar Gaddafi's regime.

Prosecutors have told Cambridge Crown Court that they acted like "hunting dogs" picking off their alleged victim, who was drunk and vulnerable, like a "wounded animal".

Now police have released footage, shown to jurors, which captures the two men approaching other members of the public earlier in the night.

Passers-by are seen trying to ignore and turn their backs on them as they attempt to strike up conversations.

A woman is seen attempting to cross the road to escape one of them but he follows her.

At 3.26am they identified the man they eventually had sex with and guided him to an isolated part of a park.

This initial meeting was also captured and shown to jurors but has not been released to avoid identifying the man.

The video cuts to the men leaving the scene before calling for a taxi at a petrol station.

Earlier, the court was shown interviews with the victim who s aid he had been targeted by "some random guys" who did not speak English as he walked through the city alone.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told officers: "I cannot believe what I'm saying, they raped me. It was horrible, I feel horrible. Don't say anything to my mum."

In a later interview, he said "three Arab guys" raped him.

Describing them as "animals", he added: "I was trying my hardest. I was trying my hardest and they were like overpowering me."

The man told officers: "They were horrendous, they weren't human. They weren't human people. They were horrendous people, they were sick people.

"They don't deserve to live, they shouldn't be alive."

Opening the case, prosecutor John Farmer said the accused met their alleged victim, a "complete stranger", in the centre of the city.

Mr Farmer said: "They behaved like two hunting dogs who had seen a wounded animal.

"They effectively took him over and, initially not using too much force and later more forcefully, kept him going in the direction they wanted him to go."

Mr Farmer said both accept they had sex with the man but say he consented. They say he made up the allegation after stealing money from them.

Three of their fellow soldiers were also arrested around the same time in connection with unrelated sex offences in the city and are awaiting sentencing after admitting their crimes.

This coincided with other concerns over the conduct of Libyan cadets training at the base.

The incidents prompted the Ministry of Defence to send 300 soldiers back to their home country prematurely, ending an agreement to put 2,000 soldiers through basic infantry and junior command training in an attempt to help rebuild the troubled nation.